The invention relates to an electrical relay with an excitation coil, an armature, and at least two counter contact elements, provided with connection elements, which are adjacently arranged in one plane, in which the counter contact elements are electrically bridged by a bridge contact actuatable by the armature which has a spring action about two different axes.
The utilization of bridge contacts has long been conventional in the case of contactors and heavy current relays. A double contact interruption, which can be achieved with a bridge contact activated by an armature stroke, is of particular advantage in the case of switching high currents. In the known bridge contact constructions the bridge contact is customarily switched by the armature via an actuation slide which engages the bridge approximately in the center between the two contact points. In the case of this central actuation virtually no frictional movement, or rolling movement, in the region of the contact points results. During the switching of high currents this may not be necessary since, in the case of contacts, great contact forces, or switching forces, are in play anyway through which a reliable contact making and a reliable contact separation is assured.
In the case of weak or low-voltage current contact relays, the trend to increasingly smaller models inevitably leads to the contact clearances becoming smaller. However, the switching capability, particularly in the case of inductive loads, is also thus reduced. The application of bridge contacts, in spite of a small armature stroke, could improve switching capability; however, standing in the way of an application of bridge contacts conventional in the case of contactors are the disadvantages that the contact resistances, due to double contact interruption, are comparatively high, particularly if films of foreign material form on the contact surfaces. In the case of purely perpendicular contact actuation without frictional movements and rolling movements, such films of foreign material can not be rubbed off, so that the contact forces which are comparatively small in midget relays no longer suffice for a good contact making.
It is an object of the invention to provide a relay with bridge contacts such that it is suited for the switching of very small currents and exhibit a long life. The relay is practical over a wide load range extending from very small currents to very large currents. In addition, an embodiment of such a relay is to be produced which, pursuant to application of the inventive principles, is constructed very simply and with few parts and can likewise be sealed so as to be liquid-tight in a simple fashion.